Code for America Executive Director Bob Sofman, center, speaks at a group meeting during the Code for America Summit held at the Code For America offices in San Francisco, CA Thursday, October 17, 2013. The Code for America Summit is a gathering of technologists, government officials, and activists who are working together to leverage technology to fundamentally change the way government works.

Photo: Michael Short, The Chronicle

Code for America Executive Director Bob Sofman, center, speaks at...

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Former Code for America fellows discuss their experiences with each other in a group meeting titled Fellowship Failures.

Photo: Michael Short, The Chronicle

Former Code for America fellows discuss their experiences with each...

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Participants in the Code for America Summit in S.F. discuss methods for improving public trust and participation in government through technology.

Photo: Michael Short, The Chronicle

Participants in the Code for America Summit in S.F. discuss methods...

Outside of San Francisco, government officials are often suspicious when groups of unknown programmers with paramilitary titles set out to "hack" them. So when John Whitlock, the co-captain of something called the Code for Tulsa Brigade, tried to get his town's bus schedule onto Google maps, the transit authorities there said he should mind his own business and stay off their website.

"It was shocking. It made no sense," said the 36-year-old Whitlock, in town for the Code for America Summit. "It's very useful to come to San Francisco and see we're not crazy. There's a movement. It's not just us."

Started as a nonprofit organization to improve the way governments use the Web, Code for America has become a community and social identity for programmers and their allies across the country. Brigades, such as Code for Tulsa and Code for Chattanooga, are impromptu volunteer units with an array of goals - from getting public records online to live-mapping the movements of fire trucks - which share a philosophy that better websites can make for better government.

Attendees spent their last summit day Thursday at the Code for America headquarters, a converted leather factory on Ninth Street. In a sunny loft upstairs, a group of 11 code-friendly government officials sat in a circle putting together a list of the benefits of online engagement. They had started with: "1) neutralizes the lynch mob; 2) shows support for controversial decisions; 3) can help build trust."

Doubts on authenticity

Nole Walkingshaw, the planning programs supervisor for Salt Lake City, talked about the first time he tried to get his co-workers to use an online opinion survey.

The issue: "The most controversial one there is: mansions, housing and historic neighborhoods. We had pitchforks in school gymnasiums, desperate politicians, and we needed an out," he said. "We needed a clear, concise story."

An online survey showed that the loudest group - the neighborhood association - wasn't in the majority. But the city government was suspicious. "They were like, 'How do we know this is real? If it's online, they can all be fake, right?' "

Participation grows

Even if they managed to get data online, some officials talked about the struggle to gain support from the public. Most citizens just don't use the tools they put online - generally, the goal seemed to be about 1 percent participation.

"We have 400,000 people in our county, and the PIO (public information officer) is delighted there are 100 comments," said Kevin Lyons, who works with the city of Reno.

Often that 1 percent has a particular agenda. Sol Villarreal, the community engagement coordinator at the Seattle mayor's office, shook his head and recalled a recent survey asking people what government priorities should be. "I'll tell you what they were: legalize marijuana, put in a light rail, and more nude beaches."

Zach Vruwink, who was elected mayor of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., at age 24, wanted to hire someone to develop social media strategy for the city.

"The staff was like, 'Whoa, whoa, we don't know. Why aren't we hiring someone for the street department - we have potholes!' " he said. "It's been a challenge."

During lunch downstairs, brigade captains talked about the tide changing. This is the second Code for America Summit, and the ranks are growing, even merging with the city government.

"I was mouthing off to the mayor on what Philadelphia should do with data, and he was like, 'Great, can you come do that?' " said Mark Headd, who worked for Code for America before becoming the chief data officer of Philadelphia.

Although the Tulsa transit authorities didn't initially want Whitlock's help, the Fire Department did. Tulsa's firefighters had been using a cumbersome old system: After receiving a call, a dispatcher would transcribe the details, and a firefighter would pick up the sheet from a printer in the office. The location and status of various hydrants was kept in a worn old binder in the fire truck.

"It was an awesome system in 1985," Whitlock said. "Not so much now."

Building enthusiasm

Whitlock and his fellow brigade members built a new system - dispatches are sent to a tablet that the firefighters carry. There are SMS alerts and GPS directions to the nearest hydrant. And then something surprising happened.

"Forty percent of the users are spouses of firefighters - wives wanting to know where their husbands were, when they were coming back," he said. "We did not predict that."